Vampire (Syfy)
For the version of vampires found in the original BBC series, see Vampire (BBC) Vampires are supernaturally reanimated corpses that drink blood to maintain their vitality. They are animated by their human souls, which kept trapped in their corpses by the supernatural powers of vampire blood. They are created from humans by an unknown process that involves a vampire's bite and a transfer of blood. History The origins of the vampire race is unclear, but they have been around since at least the time of Christ. They arrived in the New World shortly after the first European colonization. The oldest vampire shown is Mother, whose age was not stated, but was implied to be centuries older than the 1000 year old Heggeman. Creation The turning process has never been shown directly, but it seems to involve biting a human. Suren's turning of Cecilia indicated that the human must also drink vampire blood. Diet Vampires must drink blood to stay healthy. An absence of blood in their system will cause them to weaken and barely be able to move. Despite getting stronger from consuming blood, feeding too much will cause a vampire to act as if they were drunk or otherwise intoxicated, which can leave them vulnerable. Vampires are capable of drinking animal blood, but it provides little to no sustenance. Likewise, vampires are capable of eating normal food, though they do not gain sustenance from it, and they usually only partake in mortal food to blend in with humans. In order for vampires to get the sustenance they need, they need to feed on human blood, preferably straight from the source. Vampires are capable of surviving on the preserved human blood found in hospitals, but it is not as effective. Powers & Abilities Vampires possess a number of powers that make them deadly creatures. Most, if not all of the following abilities work better if the vampire has drunk human blood from a living source- if they are cut off from it a long period of time, they become weak and unable to use their power. Furthermore the older a vampire is, the stronger his or her powers are. Abilities common to vampires are: *'Enhanced Strength' - Vampires are noticeably much physically stronger than average adult human beings. While vampires get stronger with age, younger vampires can have sufficient strength to withstand their elders such as the case in which Aidan, after drinking live human blood, fought and defeated his sire, Bishop, a vampire significantly older than himself. Mother, the oldest known vampire, was able to decapitate two younger vampires with a swipe of her hand. *'Accelerated Speed' - Vampires are much faster than humans and can move at amazing speeds, to the point where they appear to be blurs. *'Healing Factor'- Vampires can take a lot of punishment and will heal quite quickly, but not instantly as shown when Aidan still had a round mark after being impaled. The healing speed and effectiveness is improved if the vampire feeds on living blood from a human. Henry, for example, needed to feed from two humans to regrow his skin. *'Super Senses' - Vampires possess heightened senses. *'Mind Compulsion' - Vampires have the ability to influence a human's mind is called "compelling", and while it is an ability that comes naturally with vampirism, it is very difficult to use. Compulsion does not seem to work on werewolves, ghosts and other vampires. *'Super Stamina' - Vampires have far more endurance and stamina than humans. They can run, fight and exert themselves much more and for longer than any human, though they can still get fatigued and even knocked out. *'Immortality' - Vampires will never age another day after they are turned and will live forever unless they are killed in specific ways. *'Fangs' - Vampires can extend a pair of fangs from their mouths that allow them to feed on blood. *'Clairvoyance '- As supernatural beings, vampires can see and hear ghosts. They can also sense werewolves, who give off a distinct, dog-like stench that can only be detected by vampires and other werewolves. Weaknesses Vampires can not be killed in many ways that humans can, but there are certain methods that can be used to destroy them. When a vampire dies, they appear to burn away, reducing the body to a pile of ash along with the clothes they were wearing. Common vampire weaknesses include: *'Wooden Stakes '- Heart pierced by wooden stake can kill a vampire. *'Decapitation '- Cutting a vampire's head off can kill them. *'Sunlight' - While sunlight is not lethal to them like in traditional folklore, vampires strongly dislike direct sunlight, which seems to cause them pain and discomfort. Aidan states that vampires long ago were indeed incapable of going out in the sun, but they gradually adapted and are now merely 'photosensitive'. *'Invitation Deprivation' - Houses owned by humans or werewolves cannot be entered by vampires without the owner's permission, unless the vampire itself lives there. Attempting to enter uninvited for more than a few seconds will cause the vampire to essentially burn and melt away. Interestingly, if the ownership of the house officially changes while a vampire is still inside it, the invitation is nullified, and the vampire will perish unless he or she escapes immediately. In one episode, a house full of vampires is massacred simply by deeding the building to a human lawyer. *'Garlic' - While not lethal, garlic forces vampires to reveal their true nature, turning their eyes black and causing their fangs to show, it also seems to cause some small amount of discomfort as Aidan was seen coughing after eating some. *'Werewolf Blood' - If a vampire drinks werewolf blood, they began to bleed heavily from their eyes and nose and experience violent seizures. Moreover, a vampire who has drunk werewolf blood will be unable to create other vampires, instead creating defective, vampire-like mutants. It is unknown if this is permanent or not. *'Unidentified Flu Strain' - If a vampire feeds from a human that had the mysterious new flu strain, then they will typically die within days. *'Juniper' - When vampires consume the plant juniper, they will begin to become weaken and paralyzed. Hierarchy and Law Before the epidemic that nearly wiped them off the face of the world, vampires were known to have their own society and set of rules that they expected all vampires to adhere to. While the ancient vampire Mother was the ruler and had a council that even The Dutch answered to, the Dutch were well respected and feared elders in their own right and usually visited the American vampire clans every 50 years to evaluate them. Some of the laws seen among the vampires include: * Heresy: '''Not feeding live and having relations with a human are considered heresy by the elders and the punishment can be death for the heretic or even the heretic's sire for not correcting his/her progeny's behavior. * '''Exposing Vampires: If a vampire exposes their kind to mortals then they are usually punished by being put to ground. Suren was buried underground for 80 years for killing a woman in full view of the public. * Creating an army: '''The Dutch like to ensure that no vampire coven has an advantage over another, and so they ensure that vampires that are turned without prior consent or who have a traitor for a maker are killed off. * '''Turning Children: It is forbidden to turn children because they lack any form of control over themselves. If a child is found to be turned, they are usually destroyed and their maker punished. Most of the vampire covens and bureaucracy fell apart in the wake of the plague, and the few surviving vampires now exist mostly independently. It is unknown if any the Dutch still survive or if there are any covens left that are still operating. Defective Vampire People who have been turned by a vampire that is contaminated from drinking werewolf blood develop grotesque physical characteristics that are very different from normal vampires. These grotesque creatures have a greater thirst for blood and their attitude is more animalistic than other vampires. Relationships Werewolves Werewolves are viewed with disgust by most vampires. Werewolves give off a distinct scent noticable to vampires and other werewolves which vampires find disgusting. Considering that vampires like to think of themselves as being organized and civilized, they see werewolves as wild, unkempt vagabonds. Some vampires have been known to strike up friendship with werewolves, but it is very rare because of the mutual animosity between the two species. Vampires also feel a certain amount of fear towards werewolves, as a transformed werewolf is one of the few beings more powerful than a vampire. Ghosts Vampires can see them as a nuisance, as they are sometimes haunted by the ghosts of their human victims. Information on interactions between vampires and ghosts is limited as these interactions are not often shown on-screen. Known vampires It is suggested that, due to the mass extinction of vampires in the wake of the epidemic, Aidan is possibly the oldest and strongest surviving member of the dwindling vampire species. Trivia *Contrary to the BBC version of Being human, vampires do not suffer from the weakness of religious objects, and they can be seen on film and in mirrors. *It seems that they can't be resurrected unlike their BBC counterparts. *It's possible that the creation of defective vampires was the reason that vampires banned feeding from werewolves. Even Aidan stated that not even he knew why it was forbidden. Gallery S01 e0111 05 130108175398 CC 640x360.jpg|Rebecca S01 e0101 03 129504505779 CC 640x360.jpg|Bishop after feeding S03 e0311 08 136362311227 CC 640x360.jpg|Defective vampire, Jeff Weston trying to feed off of Aidan S03 e0309 12 136234464928 CC 640x360.jpg|Vampires feeding on a werewolf S03 e0311 07 136362309621 CC 640x360.jpg|Defective Vampire HumanA0220.jpg|A vampire after 80 years of not feeding Tommy.jpg|Vampire Tommy S03 e0313 17 136478128900 CC 640x360.jpg|Kenny a defective vampire Being-Human-S3x06-Bishop-tells-Aidan-how-it-is-going-to-be-400x217.jpg|Bishop during the Revolutionairy War Being-human-usa-3.07-one-is-silver-1.jpg|Blake Aidan.jpg|Vampire rampage Suren.jpg|Princess Suren after feeding S02 e0207 03 132994113912 CC 640x360.jpg|Cecilia being tortured Hooded bernie.jpg|link=Vampire Bernie S03 e0313 18 136478130206 CC 640x360.jpg|Group of defective vampires Being-Human-Syfy-Season-3-Episode-7-One-Is-Silver-And-The-Other-Pagan-8.jpg|Vampire after drinking wolf blood Category:Species Category:Being Human Syfy Category:Supernatural Beings Category:Vampires Category:Syfy Vampires